Content marketing has been around for a number of years now and it used to focus on pushing as much content in the form of blog posts, articles or other information out onto the internet as possible in order to stand out from the competition. If you weren’t doing this and therefore filling the web with your all-encompassing list of keywords on a regular basis (daily was best, if at all possible), then you were likely to be trampled down in the rush of published words.Thankfully, this has now all been left behind and the frenetic world of content for the sake of it has ended.
However, content marketing itself wasn’t left in the past and instead has evolved to become a very different beast.But what’s important for content marketers to remember today? What are the current trends that could help hotel owners and marketers to boost engagement with their brand and increase awareness of their presence to would-be guests? Here are a few of them that might give you the edge over other properties. Everyman videosThe rise of YouTube made it possible for anyone with a video camera to post clips on any subject they liked, which meant the internet was no longer populated with perfectly polished corporate videos advertising products and services.
Now, people expect videos with all kinds of backdrops, whether that’s their favourite blogger chatting away in their bedroom or someone doing a travel guide from a beach bar. Hotels can make the most of this by posting clips that aren’t necessarily immaculately edited but do convey a sense of why travellers might like to stay at their property. For example, they could feature short interviews with guests by the pool. More videos that are shorter in length could help to create a sense of urgency that might lead to more bookings. Longer content Look back for articles published by businesses a decade ago and you’ll see that they were mostly short because the received wisdom was that people only have limited attention spans when they’re online.This is true to a certain extent, but doesn’t really count when people are reading about things they have a real interest in or need to know, such as a guide to a resort they’re considering staying at or tips on packing a suitcase for a ski trip.Longer content that adds value to people’s experience as they browse online will increase their engagement with the brand that provided it – and that could be you, provided you cater to your visitors’ needs by building a content plan based on your customer personas.
What’s more, search engines look favourably on longer content because it demonstrates effort and not just content for the sake of it being there. Better search rankings and potentially more bookings – what more evidence do you need to go longer with your content?The rise of bloggers You might think you know who celebrities are – they’re the famous faces we see on TV from films and reality shows.
However, if you have an interest in a hobby such as travel or even stationery, then you’re likely to have a very different idea of who’s famous and therefore influential.For example, to a crafter, the word of a designer of a range of organisers will hold special sway and any products they talk about on a YouTube video are likely to be instantly coveted. They’re famous in that little world.This exists in travel too – there are famous travel bloggers who can convince people that certain destinations are the place to be or a chain of hotels is the only place to stay when you go anywhere they have a property.
As a hotel owner, you can use this to your advantage by making deals with these influencers and aligning your business with their brand, perhaps with a free night’s stay in exchange for a review. This gets your name in front of potentially millions of subscribers with minimum effort – and it’s content you haven’t even had to write.Multi-channel solutions In the early days, content would only have had to be set live on a company’s blog to count as part of their marketing portfolio.
However, the rise of hotel social media meant all that changed. The differences in practices between, say, Facebook and Instagram meant that brands had to start creating content for individual platforms, not just operating a one-post-fits-all solution.For instance, you need concise messages for Twitter, but you can get away with longer posts on Facebook. And on the visual sites like Pinterest, the pictures have to tell the whole story. Today, savvy brands will be sending out content across a variety of channels in order to make the most of the potential leads they offer.There are many more trends we could have gone into here and there will undoubtedly be many more in the future that affect the way hotels owners carry out content marketing. The important thing is that you must be ready to adapt and keep planning new strategies if you are to see your content take you ahead of the competition.
